April 2012

04/20/2012

I'm anxiously awaiting some beautiful new releases this week. Not only are the Jane Austen additions to the new Penguin Clothbound books designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith coming out, but they've also redesigned some beautiful covers through their Penguin Threads collection. These covers are designed and hand stitched before being printed as paperback copies. They're so beautiful and that Wizard of Oz has me thinking those colors would be beautiful as solids in a new quilt. Such detailed work and I can't wait to add these to my collection.

Rob is home today (late today) and I'm spending the dwindling hours of my much needed vacation piecing together my Echo quilt... slowly! I'm loving this leisurely pace to my days, and wishing vacation would hang on just a bit longer. The weather has been simply beautiful, we've been so lucky. I have quite a bit of work to do for school (grading research papers) and class (two final papers and a major project) so I'll likely be a bit quiet this week. Hope you are enjoying your days, wherever they find you.

04/16/2012

My car thermometer read 80 degrees at 10 am this morning... there was just something so lovely about today. After dropping Rob off for a short work trip (boo), I was able to stop at a quilt store for some fabric (yay). Kylie has a really, really difficult time when Rob is away she gets exceptionally clingy and just isn't herself... except when lounging on a wool blanket outside. I'm not sure what to say about wool blankets in 90 degree weather other than this dog likes to be warm... it makes me hot just looking at that photo of her... sigh.

Anyway, her pleading face at the door told me something sort of had to be done... I wanted to sew, she wanted Rob back and to take her depression outside where at least her optimal temperature could sooth her little soul. I dragged ironing board, cutting board, fabric and music outside and went to town. We're so lucky Rob's dad thought to put outlets outside on the patio. I'm not sure why I haven't thought of cutting fabric outside before... the breeze was really lovely, the dog... mildly satiated (she's stops going to Rob's office to look for him after the first day or so) and I got in some crafty time. This will be a quilt for the couch (can you believe this is the first quilt I've made for our couch?) and entirely made from Lotta Jansdotter's Echo line. This outdoor cutting and crafting is going to be my thing, I can feel it. For someone who hates cutting fabric as I do, it was a pleasant little surprise.

Though the deck and table that my fabric was on is in desperate need of a power washing, I thought better... wasting precious cutting time washing furniture... no thank you! My ironing board is also in desperate need of a new cover and my toes are in desperate need of a pedicure... desperate. Maybe time for that later in the week... happy Monday friends.

04/15/2012

Bottle Opener Collection as seen in Country Living Magazine May 2012 Issue

Oh friends, I'm on vacation... though it doesn't exactly feel like vacation it is here none-the-less. I still have class and appointments and the dog to look after (Rob is off to Denver for work tomorrow) and grand plans for sewing (pajamaed sewing which I know is the best kind of sewing), but vacation it is. I love vacation, though we don't have plans to do anything out of the ordinary, that is just the vacation that I seem to need right now. Restful, rejuvinating vacation. And look at me blogging... I love vacation.

I spent some time today outside with the dog enjoying the glorious weather that wants to visit us this week (thank goodness) reading my issue of Country Living. This little indulgent reading in the sun time happened just before Kylie melted down when a dog had the temerity to walk down her street and just seconds before she ripped her too sharp claws into my side and stomach (we won't dwell on that) and just a few minutes before Rob seeing my slashed side said, "Oh my god, that looks awful"... Just before that I happened upon the Hanson's most beautiful bottle opener collection. I love it. Such a sweet and beautiful collection and their bravery in hanging things on the walls in their home is admirable (we've yet to hang anything since Rob painted... a while ago). So I prowled Etsy while contemplating if my encounter with Slash left me needing Neosporin or not and found some beauties... love these bottle openers!

How lovely would those look on a wall in a kitchen or dining room. I'm thinking of surrounding some with a frame in our entryway. I also love this one seen at Pottery Barn. I think she might be the first in our little collection. All of this vintage shopping and prowling has me thinking of Brimfield. This year, I'm buying that shoe trolley! I know, I've been saying it year after year... this year as a little present for the massive amounts of work I've been doing and will be doing in June... it has to happen. I wonder what little bottle openers can be found in some of the cast iron tents. We shall see. Happy weekend to you!

04/08/2012

We had such a fun time yesterday using Martha's recipes to dye our eggs with items found in the kitchen. I love how they came out... as the colors unfolded it became really exciting! We used tumeric (the gold and yellows), yellow onion skins (the orange and terracotaa colored ones), coffee (the pale brown ones), and red cabbage (the blues!). Martha calls for making the dyes first, so we did that using mostly water and vinegar. The house smelled lovely boiling that cabbage in vingegar water let me tell you, but that teal makes it totally worth it. Some of the eggs are then boiled in the dye (this makes for a more saturated color) while others are hard boild first (Rob's specialty) then soaked in room temp dyes for a certain amount of time. I loved this!

The onion skins were by far the biggest surprise... the oranges they produced in the eggs was amazing. We had red onions on hand and I will definitely try them next time. Lesson learned with the tumeric... it was everywhere (first it boiled over, then it stained our counters at each turn... not fun, a little cleanser and some Bar Keepers friend on the stains on our stainless steel pots... yes, it stained stainless steel... and all was well). Happy Easter, friends. Did you dye eggs? Here are our recipes, they'll be hanging out in the How Tos if you're looking for them:

04/07/2012

A month is too long, isn't it? But it has been a month (almost) away from this space as my life resembles that three ring circus pictured above more often than not. Minus the elephants, thankfully. Anyway, Happy April, happy equinox, happy Spring if it's found you! We've had it around these parts since February. We're allowed to gloat about that, remember the deck last February? Ha! That was something. Really all I'm thinking of right now is completing this work in front of me and getting back to a more centered and creative way of life. I'm in the homestretch with one class and have just signed myself up for a few summer classes. We'll celebrate August 4th! Until then, I thank those of you who have emailed and commented asking how things are going. They're and we're well... but I miss sewing and having free time to do so desperately. My picture a day pledge for this year just really isn't going to happen, and realistically, I'm fine with that... next year. I am on Twitter and Pinterest (they're perfect quick pop-ins for me when I have a few minutes before classes or at the end of the day). I'm still getting used to Twitter, and sometimes feel a little fish-out-of-water with it and the conversations that happen so if you are on, I'd love to know. Pinterest continues to inspire me. Here are some recent finds!